you be better off starting at home? I hear your little village is under siege at the moment, by the way. The strzygi have proved, ah, territorial.”
Both Jakub and Felka looked up in alarm. Ren’s expression did not change.
“The humans can defend themselves,” she said. “They have managed well enough for seventeen years.”
The Leszy smirked and steepled his fingers.
“Have they?”
Some grease ran down his wrist and stained his sleeve. His nose began to quiver, and then he snuffled at the wrist like some kind of animal. When Ren didn’t answer, he continued, “What about your castle?” He pushed back the sleeve and licked his forearm from elbow to fingertip. Lukasz tried not to gag. “Strzygi are nothing if not persistent. Those walls won’t hold forever.”
This time, Ren swallowed. Then she said: “Cut off the head, and the body will die.”
The Leszy paused mid-lick, then chuckled.
“Wise little queen,” he said. “Single-minded.”
Lukasz glanced at Ren. Her eyes met his, and his stomach flipped. But when he smiled, her eyes flickered away. He kept his good arm around the back of Jakub’s chair, did his best to look relaxed.
“You look very familiar,” said the Leszy suddenly, pointing at Lukasz with a whole roast duck. “Have I killed you before?”
Lukasz didn’t answer immediately. He wasn’t sure what the little creature was getting at. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
Then the Leszy laughed maniacally, as if he had told a particularly clever joke, and began applying plum jelly to the duck. He stuffed the whole thing into his mouth, bones and all.
“I think I would remember that,” said Lukasz slowly.
The Leszy crunched down and then grinned, revealing unnaturally sharp teeth. They were full of shredded duck.
“Rightly so, Wolf-Lord,” he said, “rightly so. Off to slay the Dragon, are we? Mountains are calling, are they?”
Lukasz’s blood froze. He was aware of silence falling over the table. He was aware of his own heart beating in his ears. When he answered, it was in a deliberately casual voice:
“I’m just trying to find my brother, Leszy.”
The Leszy selected an orange and began to peel it with long yellow fingernails.
“Which one?” he asked.
Lukasz felt his jaw twitch. The Leszy speared an orange segment with one vile claw and popped it in his mouth. As the yellow teeth worked on the orange, Lukasz found himself fascinated with the rivulet of juice running from the corner of the creature’s abnormal mouth.
“You’ll forgive my confusion,” said the Leszy into the silence. “For nine have gone before you.” He gestured with an orange piece, speared on his fingernail. “I did like Rafa?, though, I must say. Delightful man. Could’ve drunk me under the table, that one.”
For a moment, Lukasz was numb. He was aware of everyone watching him.
“Really,” he said at last. Flatly.
“Yes, I believe that was Rafa?,” said the Leszy. He rocked back in his chair and clasped his hands over his belly. He seemed to enjoy the moment. “He had nice eyes, your brother. Quite dreamy. Micha? and Eliasz were quite lovely as well. A bit more the strong and silent type, aren’t they?”
Lukasz choked.
“Where—what—”
“Oh, I sent them on their way,” said the Leszy airily. “To the Mountains, as they wished.”
“To the Dragon?”
“Yes,” said the Leszy, maddeningly enigmatic.
“Did they make it?”
“To the Mountains? Yes,” said the Leszy. He grinned, mouth so wide it almost touched his ears. “Back again? No.”
Ren interrupted.
“Please,” she said, leaning forward. “Please, Leszy. We’re going to the Mountains, too. Lukasz is going to help me kill that Dragon. I need to save my forest.” She glanced around, as if searching for inspiration. “It’s your forest, too. Surely you understand. If we don’t do something, it’s going to destroy us all—”
The Leszy cut her off, eyes narrowed.
“Don’t go. The Dragon will kill you.”
“The Dragon is killing my forest!”
As Ren and the Leszy began to shout, Jakub leaned in suddenly.
“Give him your cross,” whispered the Unnaturalist.
“What?” asked Lukasz.
He was still too stunned by the revelation that his brothers had met the Leszy. Had Franciszek met the Leszy? Is he still here?
“A cross will bind the Leszy,” whispered Jakub. “You’ll be able to ask one question.”
That was all he needed to hear. It was all he needed.
He jerked Tadeusz’s cross from around his neck. For a moment, it was suspended over the table, revolving slowly in the light. Its movement had an almost hypnotic effect on the table. Even Ren and the Leszy stopped arguing.
The Leszy licked his lips. His tongue was long and forked. He began to shrink,